


In the Beginning

by twelvegullies



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale, xxxHoLic
Genre: Gen, Hitsuzen, Pre-Series, Wishes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-30
Updated: 2013-12-30
Packaged: 2018-01-06 17:38:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1109684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twelvegullies/pseuds/twelvegullies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That night as Kaede fanned the flames, she knew that she too must be responsible, in large part, for Kikyou's death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In the Beginning

Kaede's small hands clutched at her sister's bloodied ones desperately and was shocked to find that despite the amount of blood which soaked the ground around them, she felt beneath her hands a strong and steady pulse.

 

However, Kaede felt no relief because just as desperately as Kaede clung to her sister, so did her sister cling to the jewel.

 

Kikyou looked directly into her sister's eyes, and when she spoke her voice betrayed her fervor.

 

“Burn it with my body.”

 

Without thought, Kaede made the greatest mistake of her life-- she nodded, and tried to look strong for her sister.

 

Inevitably as if waiting only for that response, Kikyou's pulse slowed and stopped.

 

That night as Kaede fanned the flames, she knew that she too must be responsible, in large part, for Kikyou's death.

 

The realization was a dead and cold weight, and for the first time Kaede felt close to her sister.

 

\- - -

 

The woman in front of her was dressed extravagantly, beautifully and imposingly all at the same time. Her headdress only served to make her already long and slender frame seem that much taller, that much more powerful.

 

Kaede, small and inexperienced child though she was, could sense the magnitude of their meeting and tried not to quake with fear at the thought.

 

The woman smiled. _My, my. What have we here? It s been a while since someone has come to my shop like this._ Her voice matched her appearance perfectly.

 

After a moment, Kaede tried to speak, but instead of words from her mouth out poured many small and smoky butterflies. She choked in shock, and the flow stopped.

 

Still smiling, the woman reached out her hand, and the ephemeral little creatures twirled up her arm and circled her head. She looked thoughtful, and her gaze intensified as the butterflies floated around her for a few more moments and then vanished.

 

_I see._ Her eyes seemed to look straight through Kaede. _You wish to know the fate of your sister's soul._

 

A gasp escaped Kaede to hear verbalized a wish she'd been too afraid to consciously look at, a question that she had wanted answered since she felt her sister s pulse fade beneath her fingertips. “Yes”, she replied, though the women hadn't offered. “Please.”

 

Sympathy filled the woman's gaze, _Are you sure you wish to know? The answer will cost you that lovely bow, and one arrow._

 

As if summoned, the bow and an arrow appeared in Kaede's hands, and she recognized them immediately as her sister's. The last of her sister's, in fact. The last two pieces that hadn't been damaged in the fires.

 

Kaede could feel Kikyou's residual spiritual power thrumming through the seemingly delicate wood even as she handed over what she had always considered a priceless item. The witch accepted, and both items vanished.

 

The moment the payment was received, the woman granted her wish: _Your sister's soul is suffering in hell, bound as it is to that cursed jewel._

 

Kaede's knees hit the ground without a sound. The words were her own nightmare. Kaede shook, her worst suspicions were now confirmed. Guilt and grief, and the injustice of Kikyou's selfish, and selfless sacrifice twisted in her.

 

Mostly though, responsibility weighed heavy on her already heavy heart.

 

\- - -

 

When Kaede woke, her eyes and temples were hot and wet with tears, and her sister's bow she kept always by her side, was gone.

 

\- - -

 

It was another three years before she had the dream again.

 

As last time, the strange woman (demon, spirit, god, witch, Kaede's three-year wiser mind supplied) was wearing her intricate headdress, and similarly intricate dress. She was no less frightening than Kaede remembered.

 

This time however, she simply stood there, eyes unblinking and patient. She seemed to be waiting for something.

 

Oh, Kaede thought, she must be waiting for the butterflies. She opened her mouth to speak, but out came only, “Who are you?” as she spoke Kaede realized she did not want the answer to that question (most probably, could not afford to know) and hurriedly asked, “Why have you brought me here again?”

 

The woman shook her head gently, the ornaments on her headdress clinking beautifully, _You have come to me. It means you have another wish._

 

A wish. Of course. Kaede had had this wish for three years now. She had searched for answers, solutions. She had read more in these past years than she had in all her other years combined. Only recently has she succumbed to the fact that this wish, this wish was far beyond her capabilities.

 

That acceptance was probably why this dream had finally come, Kaede thought.

 

The words were already pressing on her tongue, and fell as easily from her mouth as smoke. “I wish to free my sister's soul from hell, to give her soul peace in heaven.”

 

The other woman's face remained impassive, even as the words resonated sympathetically through the emptiness of the dream world.

 

When she spoke, the woman's voice was even and serious. _This wish is not only yours. Your sister too, will have to pay a price equal to what she is receiving._ The air seemed to grow warmer and thicker as the woman talked, Kaede found breathing more difficult. _You may never marry, nor have children, and must give up the sight of your left eye._

 

Kaede said nothing. She resisted the urge to touch her left eye, which had healed in the months after her sister died.

 

_Kikyou's payment will be one hundred lives. Her soul must live through one hundred reincarnations; lives in which she will never know true happiness, but in which she can find contentment. Even then, this payment is only for a second chance._

 

_At the end of the cycle, she will be reincarnated once more and she will still be met with choices similar to those that first dragged her down to hell. Whatever she chooses can and will change her future, and the future of those tied to her._

 

So there were no guarantees-- Kikyou's soul could end up back in hell. Despite that, Kaede felt hope for a better future fill her heart, and knew that that feeling, more than anything, is what made the price so steep.

 

“I will pay it. We will pay the price.”

 

\- - -

 

This time, when Kaede opened her eyes to a world cut in half by the darkness of her left eye, she could feel hope fill her like it hadn't in years.

 

  

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this back in 2007/2008 when I was writing a bunch of xxxHOLiC crossovers, and had no idea it survived the Data Loss of 2010 until recently. I still believe xxxHOLiC should be in the periphery of every fandom, despite the unpopularity of what happened before Rei (to be vague and unspoilery).


End file.
